Manufacturers of apparatus used to dispense substrates, such as paper product from a roll, often face logistical challenges when attempting to meet the needs of different kinds of customers. For example, manufacturers may be required to make, administer, distribute, and maintain dispensers that require the user to manually pull the end of a paper web, as well as hand-free dispensers that automatically dispense paper when a hand is waved in front of a sensor in the dispenser. Likewise, manufacturers often need to accommodate the needs of customers that prefer a dispenser to be mounted on a wall or counter, as well as the needs of those that prefer the dispenser to be at least partially recessed into a wall. The resulting large assortment of dispensers manufacturers are required to offer, in turn, results in the manufacturers having to make a very large assortment of components for each type of dispenser, both for the initial manufacture of each of the dispensers, as well as to offer as replacement parts for maintenance purposes. The complexity in administering large sets of components and a large assortment of dispensers often represents a major hindrance.
In addition to the above, customers often change their dispenser preferences, and require the manufacturers or distributors of dispensers to take on the task of substituting one type of dispenser for another. For example, and without limitation, a customer may require that a manual-type dispenser be replaced with a hands-free type dispenser. This task is often complex and therefore costly. Another example is provided by a customer that wishes for a manual or hands-free dispenser to be installed as a recessed dispenser, using the recessed frame of an existing recessed folded-towel dispenser.
To protect for such scenario, manufacturers are required to make and stock different types of additional dispenser components, to be used in the installation of the new dispenser, depending on the dimensions and shape of the existing recessed folded-towel dispenser. The resulting installation is typically a complex, costly process and results in the newly-installed dispenser being aesthetically undesirable. For example, the newly-installed dispenser may be offset, rather than centered, relative to the recessed frame behind.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have dispenser systems and related methods that address these and other drawbacks of conventional paper product dispensers.